My parents (who I'm pretty sure had no experience with eBay at the time) had secretly decided to bid on and won the auction. They surprised me one night by handing me a printout of the announcement. To justify their insane purchase, over the next several years they gifted me portions of the set for birthdays and holidays until at last I had the entire collection in my possession. It became a running joke as I'd open my birthday present from them each year..."Hmmm...I wonder if this box is full of salad plates, soup bowls or berry bowls?"
Here are a few of the pieces from the set that I have grown to love and is an inspiration for my dining room decor:
Dinner plate already on display in the dining room. |
Demi-tasse cup and saucer that also remains on display on a shelf in the dining room. I need an espresso machine so I have an excuse to use these! :) |
One says: "Deft Touch of Tomorrow...Coralbel Pattern, A Restrained Modern. . . Syracuse China weaves a thread of vitality and freshness in the rich tapestry of poised and confident living. Onondaga Pottery Company, Syracuse, N.Y."
The other says: "Flair for simple beauty... Whether you're a gay romantic, or a forthbright modern, today's flair for simple beauty is changing your world. These two popular Syracuse China patterns reflect this trend in strikingly different ways. Coralbel pattern...smart and platinum bright with an abstract simplicity that mirrors the new and dramatic. In a 5-piece place setting for only $9.75. West of the Rockies $10.75."
Because of the odd sizes of the ads it wasn't easy to find two relatively similar frames that fit them. I was too cheap to buy new frames, so I was determined to do the best with what I could find second-hand. Eventually I found two inexpensive yard sale frames that would accomodate the ads; I painted them a cream color and gave them a distressed look with a dark brown rub. Then to make them "fit," I mounted the ads on dark brown craft paper in lieu of a proper matte. From the front, they didn't look toooo bad, considering I probably paid a total of $3 to frame them.
This is one of the framed ads from the back - my feeble attempt to make it work! (Unfortunately duck tape and WD-40 would not have done the trick either.) |
Being the cheapskate thrify shopper that I am, even though I received gift money towards professional framing, I have continued to keep my eyes open for frames at yard sales and thrift shops. In a previous post I shared how I bought these two Thomasville frames for $4 a piece at The Blessing Barn, with my ads in mind.
So I decided I would try using these frames before jumping the gun on going everything-brand-new. Because the wood tone is too dark and cherry compared to the other current frames and future shelving in the dining room, I thought they would only potenially work if they looked good painted. Besides, they had quite a few scratches and dings that I'd need to cover up.
Here you can better see the texture/design of the frames I'm trying to use, and the wood tone compared to the other lighter, warmer-toned frames in the room. |
When I had put together my frame/plate wall in the dining room, I painted a few other really dark frames the same Linen White color of the room's trim. My plan was to paint these frames that same color:
In the meantime, I took the ads, frames and a paint chip for my dining room wall color to my closest Michael's craft store framing department to pick out mattes. I decided on custom green mattes to bring out the green in the china pattern and to add a little pop of color to the room. Turns out the mattes alone would cost a little over $50. What a coinkidink that the $50 mattes plus the $4 thrift shop frames brought me just within my $60 "budget" from the gift money I'd received towards framing these!
Less than a week later I was surprised to get the call that my mattes were ready for pickup. I was so impatient to get them but that ended up being a crazy busy week full of other priorities and I hadn't even painted the frames yet. Finally, almost another week later I got everything out to paint the frames and I started having second thoughts. Maybe I should just wait and see how the prints and mattes look in the wood tone first because once I paint, there's no turning back. Besides, none of the other frames or shelving would even be on the same wall so it would be harder to tell the difference in wood tone. But then I was reminded again of the scratches. There were quite a few and they were pretty noticeable.
Here are a few of the scratches on one. |
This was one of the most noticeable scratches on another. (Of course my sucky camera won't focus.) |
So I whipped out my brown shoe polish and the old sock I keep with it. I started rubbing it into the scratches, and sure enough it helped a lot. They didn't completely disappear but were barely noticeable.
This is the same area as the first scratch picture above, but after rubbing on some brown shoe polish. Major improvement. |
This is after rubbing shoe polish into the area in the 2nd scratch photo above. Almost invisible. |
I think I need to go back over them with the shoe polish or try one of those wood corrector pens or something. There are still a few dings and scratches to take care of. |
It didn't take long to hang them up on the wall between my dining room windows. All in all I'm happy with the results and am glad to get them back up on display.
So does this make me a gay romantic or a forthbright modern?? :) |
1 comment:
Love these. I inherited the same china pattern from my grandma. Would love to have the vintage ads too.
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